Sigwald checking out of Unger Memorial

By HOMER MARQUEZ hmarquez@hearstnp.com

Published 3:57 am, Monday, March 14, 2016

Photo: Homer Marquez/Plainview Herald

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Soon Unger Memorial Librarian John Sigwald will shelf his last book after 32 years in Plainview. A special retirement reception will be held in his honor from 4-6 p.m. Thursday, March 17 at the library. Formal presentations will be held at 5:15 p.m. less

Soon Unger Memorial Librarian John Sigwald will shelf his last book after 32 years in Plainview. A special retirement reception will be held in his honor from 4-6 p.m. Thursday, March 17 at the library. Formal ... more

Photo: Homer Marquez/Plainview Herald

Sigwald checking out of Unger Memorial

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After 32 years of serving as the steward of Hale County's center of information, John Sigwald will shelf his last book later this week as the librarian will begin a new chapter in his life with his departure from Unger Memorial Library.

"If you have a good library in your community, like good school, it makes people want to move there, it really improves the quality of life," said Sigwald, as he reflected on the importance and value that a public library has on the development and stability of a community.

Since arriving in Plainview in 1983, Sigwald has been at the helm of the Unger Memorial Library, overseeing the growth of the public library and its 50,000-book catalog, while also leading the way for historical research and providing sufficient technological opportunities for citizens.

But if you would have asked Sigwald in his younger years if he thought the majority of his life would be spent engulfed in the written word, his answer may have been a skeptical "no."

"I only read a couple of extra-curricular books in high school," Sigwald said with a laugh.

"I read what was assigned, but I really wasn't a book worm."

Born into a military family, Sigwald lived across the country as a kid. It wasn't until his father's retirement from the service that Sigwald was able to plant his roots in Orlando, Fla.

After graduating high school, Sigwald decided to attend Illinois Tech, however, the enrollment wouldn't last long as Sigwald said he really missed the warmer weather of the South.

"I had no problem moving back to the South," Sigwald said with another chuckle.

With a half-brother living in San Antonio, Sigwald decided to move to Texas and attend Rice University in Houston.

Academically, Sigwald was a free spirit in his studies and sampled almost every class the university had to offer. However, once graduation came rolling along, Sigwald noticed he had enough credits to obtain a bachelor's in English and pursued that degree.

After graduating, Sigwald held a number of jobs including working as a city carrier with the Post Office in Houston. It was about that time Sigwald met his future wife Regina. Both full of youth and adventure, Sigwald said the two eventually ventured on an extensive four-month bicycle trip from Houston to Canada in 1976, a trip that would take them through West Texas for the first time.

"I remember passing through Lubbock before heading to New Mexico," Sigwald said.

Hearing stories of the tornadoes, Sigwald said he made sure their time on the Caprock was short.

Soon after their return to Houston, Sigwald landed a job with Gulf Oil.

Sigwald said he worked with two librarians in the corporation's massive technical information center.

Sigwald enjoyed the job and soon decided to pursue a life as a librarian.

"I thought maybe I'll try that," Sigwald said.

Sigwald enrolled in library school at the University of Texas and learned the ins and outs of public, school and academic libraries as well as specialty libraries like the one located at Gulf Oil.

After obtaining a Master's Degree in Library and Information Science, Sigwald found a job as the head of Technical Services at the Sioux City Public Library in Iowa.

But Sioux City just didn't feel like home for Sigwald and his new wife, so the young librarian contacted the UT Library School's placement office for any other job openings.

At that same time, the City of Plainview's finance director Norman Huggins had called the university's placement office in search of a full-time librarian.

Huggins and Sigwald were matched, and after a successful interview, Sigwald was offered the position as librarian at Unger Memorial Library.

"Honestly, I didn't even know where Plainview was, I knew that it was in Texas, but that's a big state," Sigwald said.

"We packed up a Ryder truck and moved down to Plainview."

At first impression, Sigwald said he quickly realized Plainview and the Unger library was the perfect size for him.

"When you walk in that door you can see the openness of the building. The library was open and welcoming," Sigwald said.

"Also, it was small enough that you could get things done without going through a lot of bureaucracy."

Sigwald said Hale County quickly accepted his family as the librarian began to work with the community in his promotion of reading.

"I remember going out to eat and seeing kids in the restaurant tell their parents, 'That's the librarian that came and read to us.' That really made me feel like a part of the community," Sigwald said with a smile.

Gina soon gave birth to the couple's son Rainer, and Sigwald became even more involved with the school district.

Sigwald's contribution to the devolvement of the Unger Memorial Library has been substantial.

In 1987, Sigwald was one of the key members in organizing the Friends of the Library, a non-profit organization that helps financially supplement the library as well as saw the formation of the Hale County Literacy program.

Also in 1987, Sigwald published the first edition of the "Hale County, Texas, Bibliography."

"At that time the city was having its centennial. I thought that's a good reason, let me put together books about the county," Sigwald said.

Using a dot-matrix printer, Sigwald and his staff created the more than 120-page bibliography, which contained a library of book references to Hale County.

Once published, Sigwald found more references of Hale County in other books and started saving the material.

"More would come up and I started collecting and setting them aside," Sigwald said.

"A few years ago I thought, I better get the second edition done before I croak."

In 2014, Sigwald and the staff of Unger Memorial Library released a 500-page second edition bibliography with a supplement publication released earlier this year.

During his tenure at Unger, Sigwald was a regional pioneer in fusing rising technology with the library system.

In 1988, Sigwald introduced an automated circulation system for checking out books.

In 1991, the entire card catalog was converted to a fully automated system, allowing visitors to simply type in a subject, title or author into a computer to locate a book.

Unger Memorial Library was also the first in the region to offer Internet access in a public library.

With a humble start, Sigwald said he won a computer at a library conference in 1996. The computer was placed in the library and hooked on to the Internet.

The next year Sigwald bought another computer and later with a $15,000 grant from the Mayer Foundation, the library was able to buy four more. The number of computers expanded to 10 after another grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Sigwald's list of services to Hale County and its public library has been massive and hard to capture outside of a book. From the creation of a library newsletter to the annual blood drive, Sigwald has kept the library in the community spotlight.

But Sigwald said it wasn't done alone, as he thanked the entire county community as well as his staff and City of Plainview.

"I've been pretty lucky to have the staff of people I have at this library," said Sigwald, as he praised the years of work and dedication from the library staff over the years.

"Also, the city has always been really supportive. I don't always get the money I want, but I always get the support I need," Sigwald said with another laugh.

The Sigwald family plans to move to the San Antonio area in the next couple of weeks to be closer to family. Sigwald has already designated a room in his new house to shelve a miniature library.

"I have accumulated a fair number of books over the years," Sigwald said.

"There's this myth that librarians read. I don't really have time to sit down and really read the books I want to read, and I've accumulated a lot. So that's going to keep me busy for a while."

As for the future of Unger Memorial, Sigwald said he is confident that it will be placed in the hands of a capable librarian who may continue new programs like the Kindle Readers and smartphone checkout ability new at Unger, but may also usher in new advances and programs to better benefit the community's information center.

"I've run my course, and I've done the best I think I could. Some new person is coming in, maybe somebody fresh out of library school like I was. Someone that can come in and have new ideas."

Sigwald's years of service will be recognized in a special retirement reception from 4-6 p.m. Thursday, March 17, at the Unger Memorial Library. Formal presentations will be made at 5:15 p.m.